Elf Online

This game has been SHUT DOWN – It is NO LONGER available. This means the official servers are offline and no one can create new accounts or log in to the game. For all intents and purposes this game is dead. This page will be updated if the game ever re-launches.

Elf Online Overview

Elf Online is yet another 2D MMORPG with random encounter battles where players fight alongside a pet. Players don’t pick a class during character creation and must first work their way up to level 10 before choosing one of four first classes. The experience rate is fairly fast, but the repetitive monster designs and random encounter rate may cause frustration. The game has cartoony graphics, but with a unique look; the graphics are not anime-styled but still look cute. Unfortunately, Elf Online has a tiny community, which makes it nearly impossible to play with others and explore the social aspects of the game such as guilds and group battles. The classes are:

Soldier - The main tanking class of Elf Online. The Soldier’s skills focus on increasing is defense, health, and physical damage. At level 40 a Soldier can become a Brave or Wrestler.

Rover - Rovers rely on stealth and speed over brute force. Their skills include poisons and physical damage boosters. At level 40 Rovers can become a Hunter or Assassin.

Magician - Offensive spell-casters with low defense and health but impressive damage potential. Magicians possess direct damage and area of effect (AoE) spells that can hit multiple targets. At level 40, Magicians can upgrade to either a Shaman or Hypnotist.

Scholar - Supportive spell-casters who help their teammates with healing and buffing spells. Scholars can cast spells which boost the fighting abilities of their pets or allies. At level 40, a Scholar can become an Alchemist, Doctor, or Poet.

Elf Online Screenshots

Elf Online Featured Video

Full Review

Elf Online Review

By Erhan Altay

Elf Online is published by a little known company called HappyMMO, and is one of the more obscure free-to-play MMORPGs available. It is a 2D fantasy MMORPG where battles take place in special random encounter screens. The “2D random encounter genre” is rather crowded, with games like Wonderland Online, Myth War 2 Online, Stone Age 2, and Fairyland Online competing for your attention. All these games have cartoony graphics, though some are brighter while others are darker, and have pet systems that play a large role in gameplay. With so much competition, how does Elf Online stack up? Well it certainly isn’t the deepest or most sophisticated game, but the graphical style is a bit different.

What Did You Expect?

Two-dimensional games often have poor character customization options, and this one is no different. Players select their gender and chose from five hair styles. There are about two dozen ‘image’ options, but this only serves as your avatar picture and have no effect on your character’s appearance. The short mandatory tutorial only serves to introduce players to the game’s controls and interface. Movement is done exclusively through the standard point-and-click method, and the interface should be familiar to anyone with past MMORPG experience. Yellow arrows on the floor guide players along the way to the end of the tutorial. Menus will pop up explaining things like quests, the mini map, and stat allocation. The final portion of the tutorial involves talking to an NPC which gives you the option of starting in one of two villages: Carefree Village or Wulong Village.

Auto Walk While You Wait

Once in town, players are free to explore more of the game’s interface features such as the ability to auto-walk either by selecting NPCs and locations on a drop-down menu or by bringing up an area map and clicking someplace on it. These features are well implemented and it’s a shame more games don’t provide similar features. Both towns start players off next to NPCs, which provide beginner quests that involve killing five monsters outside town. Quests are not entirely necessary during the early levels because of the rapid experience rate, but are still worth doing simply to unlock the next quest in the chain. Once outside town, you’ll notice just how often the game throws random encounters your way. It’s difficult to move half a screen without another battle, which can get frustrating, especially when you’re moving through a low level area to get back to a hunting zone around your level.

It’s Battle Time!

Combat in Elf Online takes place on separate screens; every so often as players are walking around outside town random encounters will occur. Players not only control their character during these battles, but also start with a mouse pet. Both the character and pet have a standard attack (as well as skills) that can be learned as they level. Both the player and AI opponents take turns attacking, but order is determined through a system dubbed ‘ATB’ or Active Time Battle. Every character or monster involved in battle has a small blue bar over their heads which fills at a rate determined by their level and agility. The enemies newbies will be combating include bugs, plants, and other unintimidating things. These same monster designs are actually repeated several times over with slightly different names and colors, which adds to the game’s repetitiveness. Since everyone starts the game as a novice, the skills available will be limited, but it won’t take long to reach level 10, at which time you’ll be able to chose from four first job choices: Soldier, Rover, Magician, or Scholar. It’s important to allocate the five stat points you receive each level appropriately depending on which class you’re planning to become. The five stats are: Strength, Wisdom, Agility, Stamina, and Luck.

Where is Everyone?

Elf Online is not the most impressive MMORPG. The game world consists of only a handful of maps, but it does have several unique concepts. One example is a feature introduced during the tutorial – the anti-botting system. Occasionally, a small prompt will appear asking players to click one of four icons that don’t match the rest. I was given a lineup that included three pairs of pants and one other object. After clicking the non-pant icon, I was rewarded with in game currency and allowed to continue playing without being disconnected. Unfortunately, we may never know if this system actually prevents botters, since Elf Online has almost no players in the first place. I’ve played the game on several occasions and have never seen another player in the newbie area, nor received a response in World Chat to the question ‘Is anyone playing?’

Beyond The Horizon

It’s not until level 40 that players can make their second job change, but I doubt many players will get that far. Each class has two or three second class options which are listed in the overview section. Besides combat, players can gather resources by mining, collecting herbs, and so forth, but there is little incentive to do so. The lack of a community and the sense of decay are difficult to overcome. I visited the game’s official forums only to find dozens of spam posts for inappropriate sites. Elf Online obviously attempts to attract a young audience with its graphical style, but having such a poorly moderated message board is irresponsible. As a redeeming quality, the main site does contain plenty of information, including a complete database of all skills, monsters, item drops, bosses, and so forth. Even if you’re looking specifically for a cute, 2D fantasy game with random encounter style combat, there are many superior alternatives to Elf Online.

Final Verdict: Poor

Elf Online is a simple, casual, cute 2D MMORPG that falls short on one of the key components of a MMORPG: community. With few remarkable features and even fewer active players, Elf Online is difficult to recommend to anyone. If you’re looking for a turn-based game, there are plenty of other options available.